Kimi ga yo o nani ni tatoen sazareishi no iwao to naran hodo mo akaneba - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

君が世を何にたとへんさざれ石の
巌とならんほども飽かねば

Roma-ji: Kimi ga yo o nani ni tatoen sazareishi no iwao to naran hodo mo akaneba
English Translation: To what shall I liken
the span of your life, my lord?
Even the long time
for pebbles to grow to boulders
would not be enough for me.
Meaning: To what shall I compare your life? Even the long time it takes for pebbles to grow into a great rock would not satisfy me.
Commentary: Book Five Celebration Poems 277

Headnote: "For a folding screen at the celebration of Lord Seishin's fiftieth birthday"
The poet asks to what he should compare his lord's life, since even the time it takes pebbles to grow into a great rock would not be enough. Wishing for a life longer even than the traditional image of pebbles becoming a boulder, he strengthens the blessing. According to the headnote, it was written for a folding screen at the celebration of the fiftieth birthday of Lord Seishin, that is, Fujiwara no Saneyori.
The author, written as Motosuke, is Kiyohara no Motosuke. A grandson of Kiyohara no Fukayabu, he took part in compiling the Gosenshū and in reading the Man'yōshū as one of the Five Men of the Pear Chamber. He was the father of Sei Shōnagon and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
It draws on the poem at the head of the celebration book of the Kokinshū, "Waga kimi wa chiyo ni yachiyo ni sazareishi no iwao to narite koke no musu made."

First line, "kimi ga yo o," means "your span of life."
Second line, "nani ni tatoen," means "to what shall I compare it," and the poem pauses here.
Third line, "sazareishi no," means "of pebbles," drawing on the belief that small stones grow into great rocks over long ages.
Fourth line, "iwao to naran," means "that will become a great rock." 299 and 300 in this book also sing of great rocks, so the rock as an image of long time runs to the end of the book.
Final line, "hodo mo akaneba," means "since even that span does not satisfy," the perfective form with "ba" expressing a reason. It shares with "nao koso akane" in 283 of this book the conceit of not being content with the conventional measure of long life.
Author: Kiyohara no Motosuke
Source: Shui Wakashu
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